Flathead senior Ben Perrin won his sixth consecutive cross-country race, topping a loaded field on a rainy Oct. 4 at Bill Roberts Golf Course in Helena.
The annual 7 of 7 meet consists of seven races, each with just one runner per school, and Perrin posted the top time overall in Race 1, covering the 5K course in 15:43.63. Perrin has won all six races he has entered this season, and won the 7 of 7 by eight seconds over Laurel’s Levi Taylor. The second-fastest finisher from a Class AA school was Gordon Gentry of Great Falls C.M. Russell in 16:27.60.
Glacier’s Simon Hill was sixth in Race 1 (16:38.00) while his teammate Aren Alexander-Battee won Race 2 with an even faster time (16:18.89). Bozeman boys won the other five races and the Hawks easily claimed the team title. Missoula Sentinel and Missoula Hellgate tied for second with 35 points. Glacier finished fourth, just three points behind the two Missoula schools.
On the girls side, Billings Senior standout Tiahna Vladic cruised to the win in Race 1 with a time of 17:35.11. Polson’s Beatrix Frissell was fifth (19:12.18) and the top Class A finisher. Flathead sophomore Tori Noland-Gillespie finished eighth (19:27.82) and Bigfork’s Anya Young (20:13.18) was 16th. Bozeman also won the girls team title, but just by one point ahead of Hellgate. Flathead finished fifth.
The all-class state cross-country meet is Saturday, Oct. 20 at the University of Montana Golf Course in Missoula.